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College students are returning home for the summer. While families may be looking forward to the reunion, it's not uncommon for them to have some difficulty with the transition.

College students left home last fall as teenagers and are now returning for the summer as young adults who enjoyed independence and making all of the decisions. So how can parents adapt to having their college student back home, respecting his/her status and high degree of independence without sacrificing family needs and still maintaining a good relationship?

Here are some strategies from Ohio State University for keeping interactions positive with your college students in the home this summer.

- Have an open discussion with your student about house rules and responsibilities as soon as possible. For example, will she be responsible for doing her own laundry and helping with household chores? Maybe it makes more sense to combine laundry for the family and in exchange ask your daughter to cook dinner once a week or wash the car. Whatever is decided, giving her weekly chores and expecting her to keep her room clean are certainly appropriate expectations.

- Some house rules to set may include curfews. While it is a hard transition back for the college student, a reasonable curfew is appropriate. And without a curfew, parents don't typically get a lot of sleep, which can lead to more conflicts. While your child is living under your roof, he or she can expect to live by the "house rules."

- Openly discuss your concerns, and ask your college student about his views. If he has ideas that conflict with yours, work on ways to find a middle ground. This may take good communication skills and some compromise. However, modeling that skill will help your student practice it, which will serve him well in the future.

- It's important for both parents and college-age kids to show respect and courtesy to one another. Surely, the student will want more independence since she has been living on her own for the past nine months. But parents will still worry when their daughter is not home so ask her to text or call you if she will be later than expected or not home for dinner.

- In addition, your college student needs to remember that since he is living under your roof, he needs to follow your rules. That will not be the case when he has his own apartment and is paying his own way. But parents can feel comfortable standing firm with the agreements you reach up front and help teach your college student the continued importance of respect and mutual consideration, both key skills for adults.

KAREN THOMAS is a family and consumer sciences educator for Penn State Extension in Lackawanna County.

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